Tin-plate-cleaning machine



No. 623,347. PatentedApr. l8, I899;

H. F. AKIN.

TIN PLATE CLEANING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 23, 1899.)

(No Model) 2 Sheets-Sheei l.

ba /var fT/ilrl/v mm, ZMW I No. 623,347. Patented Apr. l8, I899. H. F. AKIN.

TIN PLATE CLEANING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 23, 1899.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,.

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HENRY F. AKIN, OF MAY'WOOD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE NORTON BROTHERS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TlN-PLATE-CLEANING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,347, dated April 18, 1899.

Application filed January 23, 1899. Serial No. 703,021. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. AKIN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Maywood, in the countyot' Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tin-Pl'ate-Cleaning Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to tin-plate cleaning or dusting machines.

In tin-plate cleaning or dust-ing machines heretofore in use, comprising a bran-hopper and three high cleaning-rolls, between the middle and upper one of which the sheets are first passed and then backward in the opposite direction between the middle and lower rolls, it has been necessary or customary after the sheets pass between the upper and middle rolls to adjust or feed them by hand between the middle and lower rolls in order to cause them to pass properly and squarely through the same without danger of marring or inju ring the sheets or clogging the machine.

The object of my improvement is to save the labor of the operator which has heretofore been employed to adjust or feed the sheets between the upper and lower rolls, this work being done automatically by my improvement.

My invention consists in a tin-plate cleaning or dusting machine, in combination with the bran-hopper and three high cleaning or dusting rolls and the roller-feed table by which the sheets are fed or delivered to the upper and middle rolls, of an inclined feedtahle which receives the sheets after they pass between the upper and middle roll and which is provided with an automatic sheet squaring and centering device, consisting, preferably, of a flat sheet of metal furnished with converging rounded edges or guides that serve at once to right or square the sheet in respect to the rolls and also to center itin respect thereto, thereby causing it to enter and pass properly between the rolls.

My invention also consists in the novel construction of parts and devices and in the novel combinations of parts and devices herein shown and described, and specified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end View. Fig. 3 is a detail View of the inclined feedtable and the sheet squaring and centering device thereon, and Fig. 4 is an end view of the same.

In the drawings similar letters of reference indicate like parts throughout all the figures.

In said drawings, A represents the frame of the machine. B B B are the three high dusting or cleaning rolls, and C the bran-hopper, from which bran or other cleaning material is fed down upon the rolls and upon the sheets passing between them. D is the roller-feed table by which the sheets are delivered or fed between the upper and middle of the cleaning-rolls B B. E F are the feed-rolls. All these parts may be of the usual or customary construction.

G is the inclined feed-table, which receives the sheets. as they are discharged from the upper and middle rolls B B and by which they are fed or delivered to the middle and lower rolls B 13*. This inclined feed-table G is furnished with a sheet centering and squaring device II, the same consisting, preferably, of a flat sheet of metal having converging rolled or curved edges or guides h h. By reason of these converging edges or guides h h the sheet is centered in respect to the rolls to which it is to be delivered, and by reason of the oppositely-inclined curved or rounded shape of these edges or guides h h the sheet is automatically squared or righted as it slips down toward the rolls. This will be readily understood from Figs. 3 and 4, the sheet X being represented in full lines in Fig. 3 before it is squared or straightened with the rolls and in dotted lines after it has by reason of the opposite inclines h h and the converging shape of the guides h h been squared or straightened with the rolls, so as to properly enter the same and pass properly through the same. The flat portion 7L2 of the sheet centering and straightening device H between the oppositely-inclined portions h h thereof is somewhat narrower than the sheet X to be operated upon, so that the sheet X as it slips down the inclined feed-table and seeks to assume under the law of gravity its lowest position will necessarily straighten or square itself, so that its front edge will be horizontal and parallel with the rolls. this simple device, which may be very cheaply applied to machines already in use, I have discovered that the sheets may be automatically received from the upper two rolls and squarely and properly fed to the lower two rolls without any danger of any of the sheets failing to enter the rolls or passing askew between the rolls, thus enabling me to entirely save the labor of the operator heretofore employed for this purpose, while at the same time doing the work much more perfectly and accurately than by hand. The feed-table G, which serves simply as a support for the sheet centering and straightening device H, is provided with a slotted arm g, so that its inclination maybe adjusted as required to cause the sheets to properly pass down the sheet-centering device having the converging and curved edges or guides.

I claim- 1. In a tin-plate cleaning or dusting machine, the combination .with three high cleaning or dusting rolls, of an inclined feed-table or device for receiving the sheets as they are discharged from the upper two rolls and delivering them to the lower rolls, the same being provided with converging and oppositely inclined or curved edges or guides to center and square the sheet with the rolls and cause it to properly enter and pass through the same, substantially as specified.

2. The device for squaring and centering sheets as they slide down an incline, consisting in converging and oppositely curved or inclined guides, substantially as specified.

3. The sheet centering and squaring device herein shown and described, consisting in an inclined sheet or plate H having converging oppositely inclined or curved edges or guides h h and an intermediate fiat portion 7L2 between the oppositelyinclined curved portions it It, said intermediate fiat portion 72. being at the lower end of the inclined plate or sheet II narrower than the width of the sheet to be operated upon, substantially as specified.

HENRY F. AKIN. Witnesses:

EDWIN NORTON, H. M. MUNDAY. 

